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If I'm going to be honest, which is something I have a penchant for being, the problem with this contest has been the voters and the voting. All of the best photographers in this contest have been driven off over the last year by voters who do everything from give everything 5s to voting based on nationality. It's completely not serious and is borderline masochistic to submit a high quality photo and have it be ripped to shreds by amateurs because they don't see a widely photographed view of a widely photographed skyline.

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If I'm going to be honest, which is something I have a penchant for being, the problem with this contest has been the voters and the voting. All of the best photographers in this contest have been driven off over the last year by voters who do everything from give everything 5s to voting based on nationality. It's completely not serious and is borderline masochistic to submit a high quality photo and have it be ripped to shreds by amateurs because they don't see a widely photographed view of a widely photographed skyline.

I share the same view. My and Vagamundo's photos were somehow mostly liked and well accepted, but to many other authors, including you, I found the voting crowd to be painfully unfair and critical. So many great photographers have left this competition (+ especially the dullness of voters) that it eventually became boring and no more challenging to participate. If it weren't for the Niles' and some of the Polish guys photos, I wouldn't even be checking this section anymore for the last months.

If the voting goes to XL, it will probably attract more people, maybe a permanent crowd like the one that votes for banners and one-on-one. At least a few hundred votes per day.

Now, one important factor to be sorted out for whatever contest substitute for UPC is: is the contest mostly about the technical quality of photos, about the subject on the shot, or about the impressions it produces on viewers?

If one is to judge the photos based on how the photographers managed things like exposure, choice of angle, contrast, depth, then I think most if not 90%+ of SSC members don't have the abilities required to make such assessments.

If one is to give a rating based on his/her impressions with the pic in question as an object of art, then the voting becomes a matter of photographers that fit the SSC crowd tastes faring better (like in any other picture context). And, then, whomever is photographing famous skylines or famous angles (Sydney Opera with bridge on the right third, for instance) will usually get some attention to begin with.

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Quality of the voting? I don't see that much differences between 2005 and today. Low or unreasoned votes were always there and sometimes a problem.
There are were just fewer participants today. A few years ago, we sometimes had two full pages of submissions and more.

Finally, we all may not forget that this forum is not a plain photography board. The voting is open to every member and not all are of course professionals. How will you manage it? Only let professional photographers participate?!? In this case, the contest would have been died much earlier than 2012.

You said that the good photographers left... that's true. But it's also true that the potential 'good photographers' left because of some 'professional photographers' telling them that 'they have no idea of photography'.

need to decide if it purely a competition or a critique as well. Several people have improved their photography a lot from some comments made but those comments will also 'encourage' others to vote lower and even tar that person with a 'not so good' label even when they improve.

Would like to see what comes of this, I stopped submitting entries ages ago

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If I'm going to be honest, which is something I have a penchant for being, the problem with this contest has been the voters and the voting. All of the best photographers in this contest have been driven off over the last year by voters who do everything from give everything 5s to voting based on nationality. It's completely not serious and is borderline masochistic to submit a high quality photo and have it be ripped to shreds by amateurs because they don't see a widely photographed view of a widely photographed skyline.

Agreed.

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I share the same view. My and Vagamundo's photos were somehow mostly liked and well accepted, but to many other authors, including you, I found the voting crowd to be painfully unfair and critical. So many great photographers have left this competition (+ especially the dullness of voters) that it eventually became boring and no more challenging to participate. If it weren't for the Niles' and some of the Polish guys photos, I wouldn't even be checking this section anymore for the last months.

Now I understand why you have stopped post your photos in this contest.

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I thinks it's completely not serious and is borderline masochistic to submit a high quality photo and have it be ripped to shreds by amateurs because they don't see a widely photographed view of a widely photographed skyline.

That's why I have mentioned that Skyscrapercity.com is not a plain photography forum for professionals. What do you really expect? People who are not into photography look on photos differently and I can understand it. It's still not possible to exclude them from this part of the forum.

That's why I have mentioned that Skyscrapercity.com is not a plain photography forum for professionals. What do you really expect? People who are not into photography look on photos differently and I can understand it. It's still not possible to exclude them from this part of the forum.